Physics and Cosmology

"Those of us engaged in
scientific research generally do it because we can't help it - because
Nature is the biggest and most complicated jumbo holiday crossword puzzle
you have ever seen" - Ed Hinds, New Scientist Sept.
1997

I am currently working on aspects of cosmology, particularly the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB - the radiation left over from the big bang). I'm interested the theoretical models of the early universe, as well as comparing observations with cosmological models. I'm part of the core team analysing data from the Planck satellite, and a lecturer at the University of Sussex.

My PhD was with Anthony Lasenby at the Cavendish, Cambridge on applications of Geometric Algebra and
covariant methods in physics. GA is unifying mathematical framework for
dealing with geometric objects, subsuming vector calculus, complex
analysis, tensor calculus, differential forms, and more. I've written an
introduction to the subject which I hope should be quite accessible and
is now the second chapter of my thesis.
Download a Postscript
copy.

After my three years of PhD I spent two years postdoc at DAMTP in Cambridge. It then spent 2 and a half years at CITA, University of Toronto and 4 months at the CfA, Harvard. On returning to the UK I spent four-and-a-bit years in the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy/KICC as an STFC Advanced fellow before getting my current position in Sussex.